How to: Look Effortless at the Airport

I recently shared my favorite travel hairstyle, but what about the rest of you, right?

Here's an example of my favorite travel outfit:

Tight tank + Loose t-shirt + Scarf + Comfortable Pants + Flats = Lovely to Wear, Lovely to Look at.

the Tight tank will help keep you warm while also absorbing most of the sweat should you get too warm.

the Loose t-shirt is not only cooling and comfortable, it lets you have a bit of freedom with what kind of bra you wear- so you can wear your most comfortable one... or a sports bra!

the Scarf (not pictured, it's in my purse) lets you adjust your temperature on a plane, which can range anywhere from hell to hell frozen  over. I usually get one that's thin so you can kind of twist it to make it cover very little surface area when you're warm, yet will fold out to be big enough to act as a blanket.

the Comfortable pants are probably the most important part of this. If you're skinny enough, then you have won the travel jackpot and can totally wear jeggings and bask in their comfort. For the rest of us, however, jeggings are not an option. I have secret pants. They look dressy even though they're a bit stretchy and... get this... they have an elastic waistband and a drawstring. Is it a little embarrassing to admit? Sure. But is it totally worth being comfortable? OMGYES. I usually go with full length pants that i can roll up if I get warm, but it's hot in Tokyo now and I'm not willing to die of heatstroke for a picture.

I can't find them on the US website right now, but I've gotten a pair in the US as well. Here's a link to the Japanese Uniqlo site for the best travel pants ever.

the Flats should be easy to slip on and off* during airport security, and because even if you're one of those people who likes to remove their shoes after takeoff, no one should go into the bathroom without footwear.

Bonus: I love my LongChamps le pliage bag when I'm on the road (ok, all the time, but especially when I'm on the road). I can fold it up to put in my backpack when I'm in rural areas, yet whip it out and look chic when I'm in the city. It's also super lightweight.

*Unfortunately, my favorite travel flats were just ruined when I was caught in a couple monsoons. I hate rainy season. grumbles.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

My Favorite Travel Hair-do

There's a trick to being comfortable, yet not looking grungy when traveling. I have yet to fully master this, but I'm learning. After experimenting quite a bit of several hair styles, I have found this to be the best hair style to travel with:

Reasons why I love the side braid so much:

• The side braid lets you comfortably use the headrest (ever try to sleep on a plane with a ponytail? no thank you).
• Keeps your hair a bit more controlled than a normal side-pony. 
• It doesn't start looking worse as your hair gets greasier from sitting in recycled air next to strangers for hours. In fact, it's even easier to do when there's a little grease in your hair. 
• Once you get used to it, you can do it without a mirror and it takes max 1 minute. 
• It's low maintenance- you only need a hair tie. No bobby pins needed because ouch! those suckers can hurt if you turn the wrong way whilst sleeping on a plane/train/night bus.
• Most importantly, braids are in right now, so take advantage of that to look chic on the road!

Tips:

• Braid fairly tightly until you get about 2/3 of the way down of the non-french braid, braid part and then tie it off. Put your finger through pieces of the part of the braid hanging next to your head and gently tug down. This makes the braid much more comfortable, while making it look effortless. 
• Pin back your bangs a bit while actually on the mode of transportation, lightly wash your face right before you arrive at your destination and place them back for non-greasy bangs that look great and will have people wondering how in the world you did that.  
• You can add a headband or small accessory to dress it up, if you're feeling fancy... at the airport. 
• Read/Watch this hair tutorial from ...love Maegan 

Mineral Powder

Especially when I'm venturing into warmer climates, I'm always sure to have a little mineral powder on hand.

The one that most people are probably familiar with is the Bare Escentuals Mineral Veil (20USD/.3oz), but the one that I am currently using is the Aveda Inner Light Mineral Loose Powder (28USD/.7oz). Now that Bare Escentuals has changed their packaging to be a little more travel friendly, it is more convenient, but the Aveda Mineral Loose Powder is essentially the same thing, perhaps even a little lighter, and I actually put it in a different container anyway, so it's more down to price & preference.

I have a cheaper version of this refillable buff brush that I found in Japan. It's great because it doesn't spill and it's easy to throw in your makeup bag and/or purse. I don't suggest filling it up all the way because you'll want to wash the brush faster than you'll run out of powder.

Whichever you choose, they both still provide the necessary functions:

1. Keeping your face matte- I don't always wear foundation, but you know what really makes your face shiny? Sunscreen. 
2. I'm currently on a shampooing every other day schedule. This works well for my hair, except for my bangs, which tend to get greasier faster. The quickest remedy for this is to just press in some mineral powder into my bang line. 
3. When in hot climates, it can be helpful to powder places that tend to gather sweat to help absorb some of the moisture. I tend to put a little inside my elbows, since I have fairly sensitive skin and when it's really humid out (and I'm quite sweaty), I can get little rashes quite easily. This is also easily done with talcum/baby powder, but I just tend to have mineral powder on hand.

Sure these aren't very pretty to think about, but that's what mineral powder is for, right? So you can keep looking sweaty, greasy, and rashy just in your head :)

Do you have any tricks for not looking so shiny in hot/humid climates? 

Travel Quirks: Rings

There are two rings that I always travel with: One is a skull ring that I got at Tokyo Disneyland back in 2007 with a close friend, and a three-ring. (Does anyone know what these are actually called?)

So, why these rings?

• They're sterling silver so I can subject them to just about anything and they won't tarnish or get too gross, even if I leave them on during the whole trip. Silver-plated nickel looks nice, but the silver eventually wears off, especially when you're exposing them to all sorts of things, including hard water, salt water, dirt, me for days on end... so I find that pure sterling silver is the way to go. Leave the silver-plated nickel as costume jewelry when you're at home.
• They also don't look as flashy as gold might- they're cute, but no one's going to go out of their way to steal these. 
• I find it handy to have rings on me, because sometimes it's just easier or safer to say that you're married and it's much easier to convince someone that you're married if you're wearing a ring on your left ring finger. I obviously use the three-ring (& not the skull ring) for this purpose.

You might be asking "really? do people ask you if you're married that much? Does it even matter? doubt it!" This is actually something that I started after getting asked repeatedly in several countries if I was engaged or married and most of the time, they were fairly insistent until my friend(s) and I were finally able to convince them that we had husbands. I even had to find a picture of me and "my husband" (aka a picture with a guy friend that happened to be left on my camera) to convince someone to leave me alone. (Dating seems to mean that you're still fair game.)

Why 2 rings? 

I don't know.. I'm a girl; I like accessories! 

but I'm also practical. 2 rings seems to be reasonable when on the road. 

Does you carry rings and/or a picture when you travel?

Do you think I'm being overly cautious or ridiculous?

Would love to hear from you!!

Hot pink with Turquoise dots

aaaand pink again, but this time a hot pink that I got as a bachelorette party favor. I think it's from F21. Goes on surprisingly well. I always use my Dior Ivory #108 as a base coat.

This time I went with turquoise dots to accent. At first I tried it on all fingers and trust me, my fingers looked like a creepy dinosaur.

Yes, I realize that the only two posts on this blog right now are about my nails. I just needed a couple posts while I formatted and such. Much more interesting content coming soon, I promise!

I've been into pink nails these days... and apparently my pink striped socks from Costco.
Since I move around a bit, I try to not buy a lot of colors so I let myself splurge when I do.

This was also one of my first experiments with loose glitter instead of using a bottle of polish with glitter in it so you can control the concentration of sparkles a bit better. Yes, yes it's time consuming, but doing my nails is my own form of therapy :)

Dior Ivory #108
+
Loose Glitter